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“Goldyn.Fuck.” Romeo hissed, his mouth moving from my lips to my jaw and breathing me in. “We shouldn’t do this.”

He said that but never stopped kissing me. Never stopped clinging to me like I could supply his next breath.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m clingy, protective, and possessive.”

“Hmm,” was all I said before kissing his neck. He smelled like smoke and pine. And he tasted like an answered prayer. I didn’t know how much I’d been craving something I’d never had until I had time to let my lips trace over every inch of smooth skin exposed above his collar. “I’m already with Enzo and Sin so you should know I don’t have a problem with any of those traits. I like my men clingy. Protective. And possessive.” I repeated every word back to him, punctuating each one with a sucking kiss against his neck.

Rome whimpered and my heart and pussy took that personally. I was so damn soaked, I knew my thighs would be sticky whenever he set me back on my feet.

It took everything in me to take my lips off him, but I did and stared at him. “What’s your next excuse so I can tell you it doesn’t matter?”

His hooded gaze was a boost for my ego, even though I knew it probably had more to do with the weed than me.

“You belong to them, not me,” he answered as if he’d been waiting for the chance.

“If you hadn’t noticed by now, I like being shared. And they don’t have a problem with me being with you.”

Eyes wide with alarm, he asked, “You talked to them about this?”

“Of course.” I dropped one arm from his neck and swiped my lipstick from his lips. “Now, what’s your next excuse?” I asked again.

But Rome didn’t have one ready this time. Instead, he kissed me again. Deeper, rougher, and more urgent than before.

He sucked my tongue into his mouth and kneaded my hips as he held me impossibly still against him. I didn’t want to be anywhere but right here with him, but I knew there was a whole party still happening yards away from us and I needed to go back inside before Sin and Enzo got worried.

“We should go back inside before they come out here looking for us.”

Romeo nodded, his forehead against mine. He pecked my lips and released a shaky breath. “Everything about you is better than I expected.”

He carried me back to the house, my legs wrapped around his waist and his hands anchored at my hips.

At the back door, he placed me down and I squirmed at the mess between my thighs. I was going to need to sneak away to freshen up before I could go back to this party with a straight face.

While I was lost in thought, Romeo was kneeling in front of me, lifting my foot in his palm and putting my heels back on without a word. He secured the pearl-beaded strap around my ankle like he’d done it a million times then sat my foot back onthe deck, his hand brushing over my ankle and sending a shiver of awareness through me.

“Let’s go back inside,” he said when we were eye to eye again. His fingers threaded with mine and he led us back inside, and my only thought as the kitchen came back into view was that I would follow him anywhere.

Wakingup with Goldyn beside me wasn’t a part of the plan. And as I watched her chest rise and fall with each breath, I realized I didn’t give a fuck about a plan. Her bare face was the picture of peace while she slept beside me as if she’d done it countless times before.

Since she was sleeping, I allowed my mind to wander and mentally go over how we ended up here.

Once most of the guests left last night, Goldyn had intwined her fingers with mine and told me she was ready for bed.

“Before you say I’m drunk and trying to jump your bones, I just wanna sleep. With you.” She hesitated, searching my face with a flicker of uncertainty entering her eyes. “If that’s okay.”

It was more than okay with me. And when I looked over her shoulder to find Sincere and Lorenzo watching us with bemused looks on their faces, I knew no wouldn’t be falling from my lips.

I was tired of denying myself what I wanted with her. And after kissing her I knew we’d never go back to how we were before.

So, we came to my room. She walked into my bathroom to shower and when I walked out after mine, she was already in bed, one of my T-shirts swallowing her body. She smelled likemebecause she’d showered using my soap and was wearing myclothes. Unlike the first time it happened, I didn’t go into a fit of panic at the realization. Ilikedher smelling like me. Just like I liked having her here with me.

Goldyn fell asleep as soon as I got in bed. She curled into my side, threw her leg across mine, and she’d been sleep ever since.

Since I didn’t want to wake her up, I used the time to stare at her uninterrupted, noting all the features I loved.

Her complexion had darkened in the last few weeks, thanks to all the time we spent out on the water, so her freckles weren’t as visible as they usually were. I still tried to count them, brushing my finger over the bridge of her nose and smiling to myself when she stirred under my touch.